Saturday, July 18, 2009

Group brainstorm needed!

Hello SWIMmers!

It is incredibly fantastic to know that people want to keep SWIM going past the summer. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this was ever going to be more than just Revisionista and me, but we're growing and growing! We even added a new member this week - welcome, Lauren!

By now you've probably noticed that while the blog header is "Summer Writing Inspiration Movement," the website itself is simply writing inspiration movement. The seasonal element of this is important, both as a time structure for our writing goals and also to keep ourselves tied to the world around us. But summer writing inspiration movement is only going to hold us for another month or two, so we need to start thinking about how to play things for the autumn and beyond.

*How do you want to adapt the "S" in SWIM to make it applicable year-round? Seasonal WIM? Solstice WIM? Other ideas?

*What dates do you want to set as the end of "summer" and the beginning of "autumn" for our new goal period?

*How do you feel about scheduling an "open-mike" week when we actually post a sample of our writing on SWIM to share the concrete results of the goals we set each week?

*How do you feel about setting up rotating "critique buddies" to share your work with fellow SWIMmers in a smaller, more private sessions to receive feedback on your writing?

*Are there any other features or activities you would like to see or add to SWIM? A midweek meditation from everyone on one particular topic, to be decided by a new person each week? Writing exercises or quotes on writing? Useful links on writing?

This is just my brainstorm - I'd love to hear yours, so don't be shy about sharing your thoughts!

7 comments:

Kiki, I love your hyperactive mind!!! Great ideas! By the way, it's great to be back. So much has been going on this week!I will start commenting on your own points:1. I personally would like to keep SWIM as such. As I said answering Revisionista's post, I like the image of writing as a swim. I like the word 'Solstice' but that would convey 'twice a year'. Maybe 'seasonal' is better and, as Revisionista said, we could add 'Sumer Swim', 'Autumn swim', etc...

2. End of summer: the equinox?3. I love the 'open mike' idea. I mentioned in another post I'd love the possibility to actually show each other a sample of our work. It would make us grow as a group and it would be very inspiring for each other. Definitely good for motivation.4.The 'critique buddies'. Another fantastic idea! It's good to give and receive feedback from those going to similar processes. I also agree this exchange should be made through private e-mail, for example.5. Extra features: We are all learning so much! It's amazing to see how through writing we are revising our entire lifestyle! It would be great to share it too. The once a week contribution sounds great. Maybe take it in turns to share a thought, suggest a writing activity, a yoga new pose, and then share whatever comes out from that. How did you come out with all this amazing thoughts!!!5. Find out and weekly post some interesting 'writing link', like competitions, festivals, etc...6. Other possible features: Maybe we could include some 'picture' or 'video' of the week. Some image which has inspired us to write or to change something in our lives, or simply summarises our mood or our week.

I too like the idea of "seasonal WIM" so that we don't have to change it.

As far as writing buddies, I worry that the things I am working on aren't really for sharing. Many of my goals involve reading new things or exploring ideas or writing in a journal. I am not sure how much of that will simply be a personal journey.

As for new ideas, I love the idea of a midweek meditation. I was thinking about the exchange that Citygirl and I had on my blog about writing/blogging. I want to get some of those questions up on this blog for the input of others because it really got my mind churning.

I like the idea of writing quotes or writing exercises too.

I also would love it if people would post useful resources (books, articles, websites, etc) related to writing, creativity, goal setting, etc.

I like Seasonal Wim or Solstice. As for the dates, I say we go by where the solstices fall. So the new SWIM would begin Sept. 22.

We could schedule our Open Mic toward the end of our SWIM. I think I'd be most comfortable if we set up a blog where only current SWIMmers have access to posts (so there's no fretting about material, identities, being revealed).

I love the idea of setting up a resource center on the sidebar & maybe taking turns posting on different topics, resources, tricks, exercises, etc. We could call it a Martini/Cocktail hour once a week or something like that. :)

As for the rest - well, right now most of my writing is by definition public, as it is blogging. As for posting writings that are not blogging - I wonder if people would prefer having the site password protected? I see Revisionista mentions that above too.